FEATURED: The Slow Craft of Poetry
by Joshua T. Baylis
THE SLOW CRAFT OF POETRY
Pause. Pause longer.
Carve space for silent wonder.
Observe.
Imbibe the Spring crocus’ newborn scent.
Gaze at Summer’s gratuitous cumulonimbus
Billowing unthinkably high;
Gaze up from the speck of your own smallness;
Gaze—for longer than necessary.
Ponder the paradox of Autumn leaves,
Richly full, yet sorrowfully empty.
Be still, in Winter’s weighty silence,
The desolate season, quietly latent.
Breathe clear mountain air.
The learned smell of old books.
Tea leaves’ slow-infused aroma.
Savour the soft thrill
Of Cabernet Sauvignon’s warming laughter
Around the table.
Drive your toes through golden sand.
Pause again.
The ocean is ceaselessly, sonorously
Lapping against the shore.
Notice the peaks and valleys of the soul.
Glance at galaxies.
Mathematically modellable,
Yet dwarfingly beyond comprehension,
Themselves dwarfed by vaster structures.
Observe it all.
Listen to the world’s whispered stories.
Churn it in the cauldron of your mind,
The receptacle of your spirit.
Then, tell the tale.
Craft words that embody
The truth of what you have seen.
Refine them in the smithy
Of thought and conversation.
Tell it in more words
Than you need to. Or fewer.
Tell that which countless others have seen,
But only you,
You alone in the wide sweep
Of time and geography,
Have seen like this.
JOSHUA T. BAYLIS
Josh lives in Oxfordshire, UK, and writes about the expansive power of nature upon the soul and about the symbolism of the seasons. A physicist by background, he works in research support and has previously been a church-based ministry trainee. He has been published by Heart of Flesh Literary Journal, Ekstasis Magazine, Calla Press, Peregrini Press, and The Poetry Pub.
Blog: songsfromthesoil.wordpress.com
Instagram: @baylisjosh